Improvement in ladies  dresses



AUSTIN KELLEY.

Improvement in Ladies Dresses Patented Nov.

AUSTIN KELLEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN LADIES DRESSES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 120,981, dated November 14, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUSTIN KELLEY, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Ladies Dresses, of which the following is a specification:

The serious difficulty which has been heretofore experienced in the manufacture of ladies dresses for sale, ready made, has been found in the impossibility of fitting all the different forms and sizes of persons with that exactness which is required without keeping on hand a stock of dresses which would be impracticably large. The object of this invention is to obviate this difficulty by making what is known as the waist of the dress capable of fitting slightly-differing forms and sizes with accuracy. The first feature of this invention consists in combining with the waist of the dress an elastic piece or pieces, or their equivalents, inserted longitudinally in said waist, and adapted, as hereinafter described, to allow the dress to yield to the outward pressure of the body, or be enlarged to accommodate larger sizes of the body than minimum size for which the dress was made. The second and also one of the principal features of this invention consists in combining wi h the dresswaist and the elastic piece above mentioned, or its equivalent, an outside piece or pieces or trimming, attached to the dress, as hereinafter described, so as to allow the dress to expand, as above mentioned. The third feature of the said invention consists in gathering or folding the cloth of the dress or its facing, or lining overv the elasticpiece, or its equivalent, as hereinafter described, so as to allow the waist of the dress to expand, as hereinbefore stated.

Figure 1 is an outside view of the front of a dress-waist constructed according to my invention, with a part of the trimming torn away or removed to show the elastic web by which the parts of the dress-waist are united. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the back of the dress. Fig. 3 is a full-sized detail view of a portion of the dresswaist with a portion of the trimming removed, and showing a mode of uniting the parts. Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the same taken through the line S S as drawn across Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a similar section of a modification, showing the outer portion or cloth of the/dress-waist continuous, and folded or gathered between the lines where it is united to the elastic web or cloth, so

gathered to allow the necessary expansion.

as to allow the necessary expansion. In this view the trimming is also represented as being only fastened upon one side or edge to the dresswaist. Fig. 6 is a similar section of another modification, showing both the outside cloth of the 'dresswaist and the facing or lining continuous across the elastic web, and both folded or In this view the trimming is represented as being attached to the cloth of the dress at both edges of the elastic web. Fig. 7 is a similar section of another modification, showing the outside and lining of the dress both made continuous across the elastic web and laid in small plaits or gathers between the points at which the elastic web is attached thereto. In this figure the outside trimming of the dress is represented as only at. tached at one side or edge to the dress.

A is the principal outside portion of the dress waist, which may be made of any fabric suitable for dresses, and in most respects according to any of the known or desired forms or patterns. In the front and back, however, of the dresswaist, and in the places and following the lines or directions indicated in the drawing, pieces B of elastic webbing are inserted in the dress-waist and secured at the edges to the part A, and also to the lining G, if it reaches that point. This elastic webbing may be inserted in both the front and back of the dress or in either alone; but I prefer to insert it in both the front and back. It should be a light webbing or fabric, or at least the elastic portion should not have sufficient contractile power to make the dress too tight upon the body when extended by the strain, and it may be sufliciently broad and elastic to allow the dress to expand an inch, more or less, in each place where it is inserted. Each of these strips of webbing should extend from near the shoulder near y to or quite down to the waist of the dress; b1 tin the back of the dress it may extend quite to the waist, so as to give expansion to the waist of the dress at that point. In Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 the outside cloth, which forms the principal portion of the waist of the dress, is represented as divided and the web sewn at or near each edge to the divided parts. In this case it is generally important that the webbing should be covered or concealed from view by some outside portion or attachment to the dress; and this is done by sewing trimming D to the dress in such a position that it shall cover the elastic webbing. This trimming may be sewn to thedress at or near both edges thereof, and left full in thedirection in which the elastic webbing is designed to expand, so as to allow its proper expansion, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6; or only one edge of the trimming I) may be sewn to the outside of the dress and the other edge left free, as shown in Figs. 5 and 7, in which case the trimming will generally set sufficiently close when the dress is worn to conceal the webbing or the plaits from View. In Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 the cloth of the dress is represented as being divided where the web is inserted; but in Figs. -5, 6, and 7 the cloth of the dress is represented as being continuous over the elastic web and gathered or plaited between the lines where the elastic web is attached, so as to allow the latter to yield to permit the dress to expand in the desired direction. In Fig. 5 an additional piece is attached to the lining to extend over the elastic webbing, while in Figs. 6 and 7 the lin-, in g as well as the outside of the dress is represented as continuous, and also gathered or plait ed. In Fig. 7 these plaits or gathers are represented as being quite small. In some styles of dresses in which the outside of the dress extends continuously over the elastic webbing the trimming might be dispensed with; and there may be cases in which an ornamental elastic webbing might possibly be used and left uncovered, or a trimming or some satisfactory ornamental covering might be attached directly to the elastic webbing between the lines where it is attached to the outside of the dress and its edges left free and extended over those lines. It is also possible that in some cases a lacing similar to that used in corsets might be substituted satisfactorily for the elastic webbing, and as an equivalent therefor, when combined with an extension of the outer fabric of the dress or of a trimming. attached thereto, covering the lines where the lacing is applied.

I do not confine myself to those styles of dresses in which the waist is distinct from the skirt. It may be equally well applied to the waists or upper portions of all dresses.

I claim- A dress-waist having one or more elastic strips B concealed by loose portions or plaits of the dress-fabric or by attached trimming, substantially as and for the purposes herein specified.

AUSTIN KELLEY.

Witnesses:

ARNOLD HOERMANN,

CAMPBELL G. LIVINGS. (38) 

